Мёрдок Никкалс
Мёрдок Никкалс - официальный басист и основатель Gorillaz. Предыстория Мёрдок Альфонс Никкалс родился в Сток-он-Тренте 6 июня 1966 года. Хоть точное местоположение и неизвестно, ходили слухи, что его мать рожала в санатории "Белфагор", который является почти что домом для "больных, нуждающихся и смертельно скучных". Младенцем Мёрдока бросили у порога дома его отца, что последний обнаружил лишь когда возвращался домой из бара. У Мёрдока было очень тяжёлое детство, из-за которого, вероятно, он и стал таким мрачным человеком со множеством зависимостей. Его отец, Себастиан Джейкоб Никкалс (или Джейкоб Себастиан Никкалс, смотря кто спрашивает), был пьяницей, часто оскорбляющим и эксплуатировавшим своих сыновей. Мёрдок посещал Общеобразовательную Школу Содсфорт, где заслужил репутацию плохого ученика, не следящего за гигиеной и выглядящего довольно уродливо. Он издевался над парнем по имени Тони Чоппер, но отстал от него после того, как Тони дал Мёрдоку в нос за чрезмерное количество оскорблений в свой адрес. Классный руководитель Мёрдока, мистер Гравадлакс, описал его как "ужаснейшего ученика" и "тупого имбецила, от которого частенько воняет виски". Местный бар постоянно устраивал конкурс талантов под названием "Ты - Звезда?", и отец Мёрдока насильно принуждал его участвовать в нём, чтобы выиграть немного денег на выпивку. Выступления, которые устраивал отец, всегда включали в себя унизительные песни и танцы, а также костюмы, украшенные перьями, и танцевальную обувь. Однажды Мёрдока одели как Пиноккио и заставили петь песню "I've Got No Strings". Именно тогда Мёрдок решил, что станет музыкантом и больше никогда не будет выходить на сцену по чьему-то принуждению. Он будет сеять хаос в мире этих тупых шутов. Мёрдок мечтал стать знаменитым музыкантом и уехать из Сток-он-Трента. После того, как он стал сатанистом, он начал заключать сделки с дьяволом, и в конце-концов они пришли к соглашению. Условие было таково: если Мёрдок станет знаменитым, он отдаст Сатане свою душу. После этого Никкалс приобрёл сатанистскую басс-гитару "Эль Дьябло" и сменил своё второе имя с "Альфонсо" на "Фауст". До Gorillaz Мёрдок играл ещё в нескольких группах, но популярными они не стали. Имена музыкантов и их инструменты приводятся в рекламном буклете Gorillaz 2005-го года: Малыш Билли (основан на персонаже из A Clockwork Banana) и Тайни на гитарах, Кранч на барабанах, Рокки на клавишных и Манч, который подписан как "Художник группы". Больше об этих персонажах ничего неизвестно, однако они появлялись на нескольких официальных артах Gorillaz (например, в вышеупомянутом буклете или в Kong Studios, где на одной из стен в инструментальной комнате можно увидеть фото Кранча, Малыша Билли и Тайни). В августе 1997 года Мёрдок и группа злоумышленников начали череду преступлений на угнанном Опель Астра. Их целью стал также и магазин клавишных дяди Норма, в котором в то время работал Стюарт Пот. Мёрдок протаранил стену магазина и сбил Стюарта, отправив его в кому с гифемой на один глаз. После этого он был арестован и приговорён к 30,000 часам (1,250 дням) исправительных работ, а также еженедельным десятичасовым уходом за пострадавшим. Однажды, в попытке закадрить женщин на парковке Теско в Ноттингеме, Мёрдок попытался развернуться на 360 градусов. Во время проведения трюка непристёгнутый Стюарт вылетел сквозь лобовое стекло и ударился головой о бордюр, повредив второй глаз. Это вывело его из комы. Мёрдок, поражённый его обновлённым видом, тут же назначил парня новым фронтменом и клавишником своей группы, а также дал ему ту самую кличку '2-D'. Gorillaz Фаза 1: 1998-2002 В сентябре 1998 года Мёрдок находит Kong Studios в интернете и переезжает туда вместе с 2-D. Позже Мёрдок похищает Рассела Хоббса из Музыкальной Лачуги Большого Рика Блэка (Big Rick Black's Record Shack) в Сохо и нанимает его в качестве барабанщика группы. В роли ведущего гитариста изначально выступала девушка 2-D, Паула Крекер, но вскоре она была уволена, так как Рассел застал её и Мёрдока целующимися в туалетах студии. Никкалс тогда получил около пяти ударов в нос. После того, как к ним присоединилась Нудл, название группы было изменено на "Gorillaz", и Мёрдок устроил первый концерт группы в Camden Brownhouse, пригласив туда Mr. Wiffy Smiffy из EMI Music, чтобы он посмотрел на их выступление и оценил игру. Gorillaz подписали контракт с EMI Music в ноябре того же года. Первый альбом группы, выпущенный в 2001 году, добился немалых успехов, и группа объявила об огромном мировом туре. В это время в США Мёрдок создаёт культ личности, в состав которого входили различные не очень привлекательные люди. Во главе культа стоял молодой Джимми Мэнсон - свихнувшийся карлик, опасно одержимый идеями то убить Мёрдока, то создать с ним прочную семью. Одной тёмной ночью в отеле Мёрдок призвал темнокожего мальчика-демона, который очень доходчиво объяснил Джимми, что преследовать Gorillaz плохо. После получения славы, денег и парочки неприятных похмелий, басист-алкоголик и его группа переехали в Лос-Анджелес, чтобы приступить к съёмкам фильма. Пост-Фаза 1 - Пре-Фаза 2: 2002-2004 К сожалению, фильм так и не вышел. Пока Мёрдок пытался сняться в телевизионной программе (хотя он был явно старше, чем того требовала роль), Gorillaz были обмануты ненормальным режиссёром. Напряжение между участниками росло, и вскоре группа распалась. Мёрдок отправился на Тихуану, и позже был заключён в тюрьму на 30 лет за расплачивание с проститутками недействительными чеками. В это время он познакомился с Кортезом, "рецидивистом с пугающей репутацией". Пока Мёрдок отбывал наказание, он набил себе несколько тюремных татуировок (в частности изображение семи смертных грехов на спине), посетил открытый университетский курс по теме "Введение в Фармацевтические Лекарства" и сдал медицинский экзамен, получив звание "Доктор Никкалс". Потом он бежал из тюрьмы - помогли ему в этом два мексиканских преступника, кукла из папье-маше и поставленная на повторение запись собственных стонов. После побега Мёрдок снарядился текилой из дюти-фри, парочкой сомбрерро и вернулся в Kong Studios. Там он узнал, что Нудл самостоятельно записала второй альбом, и неудачно попытался взять на себя все лавры авторства. Gorillaz Фаза 2: 2004-2007 The new album, Demon Days, made the band into even bigger superstars. After several number one videos, Noodle was apparently "killed" during the El Mañana video shoot (it can be noted that Murdoc came up with the idea of shooting down the floating island with Noodle inside, though he tried to save her in the long run). After the El Mañana conspiracy, 2-D and Russel were frantic about Noodle's supposed death, but it turned out to be a hoax. Murdoc revealed the truth about the El Mañana video in the Gorillaz official autobiography book, Rise of the Ogre. Gorillaz-Unofficial released an article containing the contents of the book. It turns out that the entire El Mañana conspiracy was calculated specifically to get rid of an enemy of the band: Little Jimmy Manson, a psychotic hippie turned industry executive who was set on sabotaging Gorillaz. The reason why was because Jimmy had auditioned for Gorillaz a few years back, but was turned down after Noodle got the job, causing Jimmy to have a grudge with Gorillaz ever since. Murdoc saw Jimmy's plan and decided to get rid of him before it was too late. Murdoc told Jimmy that he had a plan to "help him" to kill off one of the band members so that Gorillaz would end with a bang, and that Jimmy could start a new band with Murdoc. Noodle was to do the El Mañana video with Manson stowed away on the island and, while the windmill was crashing around them, Jimmy would shoot the guitarist whilst taking the parachute for himself. However, Murdoc turned the tables on Jimmy by not only "forgetting" to leave the weapon aboard the island, but by also locking him in the windmill. Jimmy supposedly died within the crash while Noodle parachuted to safety. It was stated by Murdoc that Noodle had been planning to leave after Demon Days, although leaving what, the band or the country, was never answered. Though it had been planned for months, she had neglected to tell anyone of her plans (although Murdoc stated it was obvious what she was doing). Murdoc, in order to run with his plan to off Jimmy, made a deal with Noodle: she could disappear for some R&R with no fuss if she did the video. While some may say this is one of the only occasions when it appears that Murdoc isn't as selfish as he appears, he later states that "no one was going to ruin his band", obviously meaning he would not jeopardise his fame. However on the 8th November 2007, the day of the live chat on bandmate Murdoc's Facebook page, Murdoc revealed that Noodle has actually been taken to Hell in place of Russel Hobbs by the demons invading the Kong Studios building. He later explained: Gorillaz Фаза 3: 2008-2012 While spending many years on an around-the-world bender, Murdoc began running low on cash, he became a gun runner and was selling faulty weapons in Mexico in order to make fast money. He took further measures by burning down Kong Studios on July 25th 2008 and attended Jamie Hewlett's oprea as an alibi. After blaming the fire on some local kids, Murdoc cashed in on the insurance money and fled the country. His reason for leaving the UK was because he was on the run from a gang of pirates called "The Black Clouds" who purchased the broken weapons from Murdoc the last time he was in Mexico. Now armed with new, working weapons, they began to hunt Murdoc down as an act of revenge for ripping them off. While sailing the world for a somewhere to hide, Murdoc had discovered an island made entirely out of floating landfill which he would call, Plastic Beach. He would also use the insurance money to erect a new Gorillaz HQ on top of the island and began working on demos for the Plastic Beach album. Murdoc has since revealed various disturbing truths about Gorillaz' history via his "Pirate Radio" broadcasts on Gorillaz.com. Among them include the revelation that Noodle was never rescued; upon entering Hell and searching wildly for her, he discovered that she was not there and that she had disappeared on her own. Returning to Earth, he created a clone-cyborg version of her from DNA that he collected around the wreckage on the site of El Mañana, and used the new Noodle clone as his bodyguard against the Black Cloud, who were pirates and mercenaries that Murdoc had been selling bad weapons to since at least his time in Mexico. At a recent radio interview, Murdoc confirmed that he burned down Kong Studios and used the insurance money in order to create his hideaway/recording studio on a tiny island named the "Plastic Beach", located at Point Nemo. It was an island made entirely of social and cultural garbage. He is presently located on Plastic Beach, where he's kidnapped 2-D and began production of the Gorillaz album Plastic Beach. During the interview, Murdoc also hinted at a possible fourth album for Gorillaz. Murdoc has most recently been trying and failing to appear at live shows around the world such as Coachella and The Roundhouse, but many things have stopped him, such as being deported from America. He said in an iTunes interview that he "wasn't 100% sure he really exists..." and that Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett have been trying and failing to stick him back on a piece of paper. The ever-so pesky "Gorillaz Tribute Band" has been blocking his way and preventing him from taking the stage (See the Murdoc Dressing Room video shorts where, when preparing for a concert, Murdoc, 2-D, and Cyborg Noodle get trapped inside.). It appears from the music videos of "Stylo" and "On Melancholy Hill", an evil force known as the Boogieman is chasing Murdoc, and is after him to claim his soul. The Boogieman also appears in several other pieces of Gorillaz artwork and is also seen in the 2-D ident, though the motives of the character are still unknown. However, on the Gorillaz website, it was noted that the Boogieman is a physical manifestation of Murdoc's evil side, with the Evangelist being a lighter side, though all we know of the Evangelist is that it was created for the sole purpose of saving Murdoc from himself. Murdoc got together a group of collaborators in 2010 and went out to look for Noodle, and although they still haven't found her, she is now confirmed to be alive after the "El Mañana" incident, as she appears in the "On Melancholy Hill" video. This relates to Murdoc and the collaborators looking for Noodle, as they are in submarines in the ocean at the same time as Noodle, although the video also shows the arrival of the gang to the island of Plastic Beach. On December 25, 2010 to cap off the end of 2010, the Gorillaz unveiled (via the Gorillaz Advent Calendar) their newest album, The Fall. It was made on the Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour using Damon Albarn's iPad. As of late 2011, in a recent XFM Broadcast, Murdoc stated he left his pirate-infested Plastic Beach to live in Hawaii. It is evident by his detailed "story" that he is there alone, though, some fans are convinced he is lying about 2-D's "sudden death" (which didn't happen in an uncut version until he said it again was true) and the appearance of Russel and Noodle, as well as the destruction of the Cyborg Noodle. He also revealed that he faked his death by putting a Murdoc look-a-like in his place and killed him to fool the Boogieman. He finally escaped Plastic Beach via rowboat, until he got caught up in a typhoon and was blown thousands of miles across the ocean and ending up in Hawaii. After nearly a year underground (or lurking in the dark corners of who-knows-where), Gorillaz’s Murdoc Niccals has resurfaced and is again wreaking havoc — this time over the airwaves. It seems in fact that, following a dramatic exit from Gorillaz’s Plastic Beach HQ, the miserable despot Murdoc Niccals has created yet another pirate radio station and is now sending transmissions from a brand new mystery location. It's all about Gorillaz Converse single will be called "DoYaThing" and will feature collaborators André 3000 (of Outkast) and James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem). The single was released on 23 February.[2] It turns out that Murdoc wasn't in Hawaii at all, but was living in a ransacked house in England; 212 Wobble Street, London to be exact. It is unknown what happened after the rest of the band finally caught up with Murdoc, but in the DoYaThing video, it is revealed that they are all living together. However, they have been threatened with an eviction notice. The band's current status is unknown now. Gorillaz Фаза 4: 2016-настоящее время Murdoc escaped the Plastic Beach ruins in his submarine, taking Cyborg Noodle along with him (her destruction by Noodle is implied to be a lie on Murdoc's part). The two were captured by the EMI Battleship Ringo, and imprisoned in "Dungeon Abbey", underneath Abbey Road Studios. Soon after, Murdoc was approached by an Entertainment Internal Affairs representative, who releases him with orders to write songs for the next Gorillaz album. Интересности * Twitter Мёрдока * Murdoc's wonky nose has been broken from being punched in the face eight times. The first punch was from Tony Chopper, the second and third punch came from his brother, Hannibal, and the last five punches came from Russel Hobbs after he caught Murdoc making out with Paula Cracker in the toilets of Kong Studios. * In a video by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett titled "Gorillaz - ASK:REPLY", Jamie states the reason Murdoc is green is because he is an "immortalist" and he has been around since the dawn of time, so his body is a "rotting carcass", hence the green skin. Jamie also thinks that he has played a part in every major historical event, for example he says the Great Fire of London was probably started by Murdoc throwing a cigarette out of a horse and carriage. Of course, this could just be a joke. * Murdoc's attire in each phase of the band draws its inspiration from Ozzy Osbourne. * Murdoc's voice changed drastically during the transition from Phase 1 to Phase 3. Initially, Murdoc's voice was higher-pitched and nasally. In later phases, his voice lowered in octaves and became a mix between nasally and raspy. * Murdoc has one brother named Hannibal. We don't know anything about Hannibal except that he is older than Murdoc.